Florence Churning in the Atlantic; No Threat To Land

By By Brian Edwards, Meteorologist

August 09, 2012, 1:48:39 AM EDT

Tropical Depression Florence continues to churn over the open waters of the Atlantic while posing no threat to land.

When it rains, it pours...tropical systems! Soon after Tropical Storm Ernesto formed in the Atlantic Basin, another strong tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa.

That wave then developed a well-defined center of circulation and was classified as Tropical Depression Six late Friday night.

By Saturday morning, satellite intensity estimates showed that sustained winds had ramped up to tropical storm force. As a result, Tropical Storm Florence was named in the Atlantic.

However, due to dry air and increased shear, Florence was downgraded to a tropical depression early Monday morning. Satellite imagery showed very little thunderstorm activity associated with the storm, a clear sign of a weakening system.

The storm is located over 1600 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands and it will continue chugging westward through the open waters of the central Atlantic the next few days.

It looks like Florence maxed out intensity wise as a large amount of dry, dusty air exists north and west of the storm which will inhibit further strengthening.

AccuWeather.com meteorologists expect the gradual weakening trend to continue over the next couple of days.

As Florence passes to the north of the Lesser Antilles by the middle of this week, it will continue to fight with that dry, dusty air and and that should lead even more weakening. It's even possible that Florence will dissipate by Thursday or Friday.

Even though no land impacts are expected from Florence, we will continue to monitor its progress during the upcoming week.